Stone Mountain siblings, local former NFL player and wife part of ‘Amazing Race 19′8:00 am September 22, 2011, by Rodney Ho

Pine Mountain residents Amani and Marcus Pollard will compete for $1 million on "The Amazing Race" starting Sunday, Sept. 25. CREDIT: CBSFor the first time ever, Georgia will have not just one – but two – teams in “The Amazing Race” for season 19 starting Sunday at 8 p.m.

The two teams are:

- Amani and Marcus Pollard: husband-wife team with four kids from Pine Mountain. Marcus had a solid 14-year career as a tight end in the NFL, retiring in 2008 after one game with the Atlanta Falcons. He now coaches high school football. Amani owns a boutique.

- Jennifer and Justin Young – A brother-sister team from Stone Mountain. He’s a medical resident. She’s a special education teacher.

I interviewed both couples though as standard with these shows, restricted by what we could talk about related to the show itself.

Marcus, 39, and Amani, 36, hope their strong marriage will guide them to victory and the $1 million. “We may not be the fastest or strongest or smartest,” Amani said in the promo video above. “But ultimately, we want to finish first.”

Their audition tape was done by their oldest son Myles, who is all of nine years old. Their kids (ages 3 to 9) supported them doing the show though it meant they had to disappear for a month. “We promised to come back bearing gifts,” Marcus said. “We had to come back full force!” And the kids had to keep their mouths shut about the show until CBS announced the cast, so the gifts were a good incentive.

Though neither are “Amazing Race” experts, they had seen the show enough and studied tape before they left to understand the challenges they faced. They worked out quite a bit to get ready, too. “I couldn’t have him make me look bad!” Amani said.

Interestingly, even during pit stops, she said, the competing couples didn’t interact all that much. “What you see is what you get in terms of alliances and friendships during filming,” Amani said.

And though both have traveled quite a bit, they hadn’t done much internationally beyond Aruba, Jamaica and the Virgin Islands. “We had very little experience getting on planes in different countries and going through customs,” Marcus said. The entire trip, he added, “was more mentally challenging than I thought it would be.”

“Sitting at home, it’s easy to say you have the answer to everything,” Amani said. “Then we’re put in these situations and it’s like, ‘What in the world?’ ”

Jennifer and Justin are siblings who used to fight a lot growing up but grew to appreciate each other as friends as they got older.

Both were drawn into “The Amazing Race” by an aunt and believed they have the right rapport and intelligence to win the race. “We’ve got great smiles and great attitude,” said Jennifer. “We wanted to have fun and push ourselves to do our best.” She said they came in with a goal to play with integrity. (Will they? They couldn’t say.)

While Justin has been to Mexico and London and Jennifer has been to the Caribbean, neither has exactly filled up their passports until this adventure. “This is truly a Golden Ticket,” said Justin, who will start working in urgent care n Johns Creek in two weeks before pursuing a residency next year in emergency medicine.

Justin, a rock climber who took time off from residency to work at REI, said if they win the big prize, he’ll pay down his medical school debt and give their parents money to travel around the world themselves. Jennifer, who recently moved to Newark, N.J. to teach elementary school kids, would like to go to grad school and get her PhD.

“There’s a distinct reason why this show is so watchable,” Justin noted, “why it’s so enjoyable, why it continues to win Emmys year after year. This is truly a great production full of people who are phenomenal.”

Describe what you do: I own and operate Maize n’ Grace, a country chic boutique.

How will these skills help you win The Race? As a mom and business owner I have mastered multitasking, sleepless nights and a schedule that constantly keeps me moving. Getting it done is what I do!

Three words to describe you: Creative, animated and competitive.

Favorite hobbies: Traveling, writing and painting.

What famous person reminds you of yourself? Raven Simone and Julia Roberts

What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Idris Elba and Kobe Bryant

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Raising four wonderful babies and opening my own business. In one year of operations we’ve received rave reviews.

What scares you most about traveling? Leaving my kids. I’m scared that something will happen to Marcus and/or myself.

What excites you most about traveling? I love seeing the world! Marcus used to say I want to travel too much, but I think now he appreciates getting away and seeing God’s beauty.

Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: I can’t decide if he has selective or bad hearing. I hope he hears what I am saying.

Pet peeve about your teammate: His sound effects while I’m driving. He’ll say “uurrpp” when he wants me to break, “bammm” (as he hits the dash or window) if he thinks I could have hit something or “you see that car?” I’ll be like, “the one right in front of me?”

What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Italy, because I love Tuscan architecture, the waterways, buildings, food, vineyards… It’s beautiful. I’d also like to go to Africa – an African Safari. I’d love to photograph and experience nature at its simplest and most beautiful.

What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other then winning one million bucks)? An experience of a lifetime and time with my husband. Our marriage has been an amazing race – a honeymoon baby (although we intended to wait) set us on the go mark! We are very family oriented so, between the kids and his 14 year NFL career, he and I only get to steal moments for each other. It will be good to just enjoy each other.

Marcus Pollard

Age: 39

Hometown: Pine Mountain, Ga.

Connection to your teammate: Married

Current occupation: Retired professional football player/football coach

Describe what you do: Giving back to my community as an offensive coordinator.

How will these skills help you win The Race? I know how to study my opponents and put my players in the best position to be successful.

Three words to describe you: Good looking, charming and helpful.

Favorite hobbies: Golfing, fishing and traveling.

What famous person reminds you of yourself? Me

What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Halle Berry

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? I’m most proud of being a great father to my four children.

What scares you most about traveling? Getting lost.

What excites you most about traveling? Seeing and experiencing new places, foods and cultures.

Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: She often asks questions with a fragment. For example, she’ll say, “Baby, money?” I’m like, “Money what!”

Pet peeve about your teammate: When she doesn’t make the bed in the morning.

What country and place would you most like to visit and why? I’d like to go to China because I’m fascinated with the culture and the traditions.

What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other then winning one million bucks)? I want to be able to spend quality time with Amani that we never had because we had children early.

I at first thought I would love this team but now I find them a bit annoying. It's probably not their fault as much as it is the fact that CBS is pushing them WAY too much. It makes them seem like a gimmick. I wish we could have seen them as people and not their "former NFL star and his wife."

Also, they make the strangest choices sometimes and have both the best and worst luck.

I at first thought I would love this team but now I find them a bit annoying. It's probably not their fault as much as it is the fact that CBS is pushing them WAY too much. It makes them seem like a gimmick. I wish we could have seen them as people and not their "former NFL star and his wife."

Also, they make the strangest choices sometimes and have both the best and worst luck.

At the beginning of this episode, Phil said 'The married couple came in first' and I thought 'What?! I thought it was just an NFL star and his insignificant wife!'

I don't think they'd be pushing it so much if it wasn't for the fact that TAR airs right after the NFL. In fact, I wonder if he even would have been cast.. If TAR aired after the NBA, we'd probably have Karl Malone running instead!!

I still like this team. They're real and supportive of each other. Marcus seemed to be enjoying the journey while Amani is appreciative of everything (I believe).

Although TAR editors are trying to whore the whole exNFL star factor out of them, I still think that they're an interesting team to watch! Here's to hoping them to survive the Speedbump next week, IF ONLY BILL AND CATHI ARE NOT IN TROUBLE.

Logged

"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

I still like this team. They're real and supportive of each other. Marcus seemed to be enjoying the journey while Amani is appreciative of everything (I believe).

Although TAR editors are trying to whore the whole exNFL star factor out of them, I still think that they're an interesting team to watch! Here's to hoping them to survive the Speedbump next week, IF ONLY BILL AND CATHI ARE NOT IN TROUBLE.

It's another underwhelming interview on The Talk. Here is what I put in our Media thread:

Marcus and Amani got the last 10 minutes (including commercials) of The Talk this afternoon. It was pretty boring, with Marcus talking about the value of patience and giving as an example their 1.5 year old special needs child and Amani talking on "never give up."

I like them as people too. They seem really nice and genuine. I just don't like how CBS editing has portrayed them. They are using them as a gimmick to get people to watch. If I were them, that would irritate me.